Final thoughts

If I had to give anyone advice on what I learned this term, it's to give yourself adequate time to research and write your paper. I rushed both the rough draft and the final, and made some stupid mistakes in the process. It has been a long term, and as fun as it has been, I'm glad it's over!

Wrapping things up

So glad this paper is almost out of the way. In the beginning I thought the topic was something I could just sink my teeth into, but having to go out and find the information to support my topic was darn near impossible. Finding the time to write is has been difficult. And the drive to write it just hasn't been there. I'm wiped out, exhausted, and drained by other drama in my life at the moment too, which hasn't helped.

Blogging

I have found it a bit of a burden to keep this blog during the course of the term. Most weeks I forget I have to do it til the end of the week, then find myself rushing to complete it so I don't lose the points. I haven't particularly paid a lot of attention to any comments I've gotten, but I know there haven't been many. I likely will not continue after the term is over.

Peer Reviews

Usually I get good feedback with peer reviews. This time however I have so far been disappointed and not gotten any useful feedback. Only one person has reviewed my paper, and did not do the discussion assignment as it was given, and that frustrates me. I follow the assignment and offer what I hope is useful input, and so I expect my classmates to give me the same courtesy.

The last 6 weeks

It's actually been life as usual the last 6 weeks. Juggling school, a new job, parenthood, my marriage... The list goes on and on. My husband and I were supposed to go to a huge camping event this weekend, but between the distance, all the baby gear we'd have to pack, not to mention camping 5 days with a 7 year old and a child under 1 at a site where there is zero shade... I think we're gonna pass this year.

School Life vs Home Life

School this term has been hard. I've been sick, I got a new job and have had to rejuggle priorities, and a multitude of other minor challenges. Probably the biggest challenge though has been work. I used to use that time to do homework so I could spend my evenings with my family. Now, even though I spend the majority of my lunch breaks at work wolfing down food while trying to cram in study time, I still have to take time from my family in the evenings too. Just the other night my daughter wanted to play, and I had to tell her no, Mommy has to do homework. It broke my heart to her her outburst of, "I hate Mommy going back to school, she always has to do homework!" before running off. And now I'm in the process of transferring from my current Associates program into a Bachelor's program, so I'll be in school longer than planned. I just hope we can survive this.

Plagirism, Never Ok.

I've never understood the need to claim someone else's work as your own. Why? Is it so hard to say, "Hey, there's this great idea, and Person XYZ came up with it!"? You can still share the idea without claiming it as your own. Give credit where credit is due, people!